Mano Announces Progress on its Kono Diamond Project in Sierra Leone

June 14, 2005

Mano Announces Progress on its Kono Diamond Project in Sierra Leone

Mano River Resources Inc. (“Mano”) the TSX-V and AIM-listed company with extensive mineral licences in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, is pleased to report progress on its Kono Diamond Joint Venture (‘the ‘Joint Venture’) with Petra Diamonds Limited (formerly Crown Diamonds) (‘Petra’) relating to the exploration and planned production of diamonds from diamondiferous kimberlite dykes (the “Lion” dykes) within Mano’s three contiguous licence areas in the Kono diamond district of Sierra Leone.

Highlights are: –

• A 200kg bulk sample taken by Petra returned a gem quality 0.22 carat diamond supporting the previously indicated average grade of 94 carats per hundred tonnes (“cpht”) from Mano’s previous sampling

• Manufacture by Petra of a 75 tonne per hour (“tph”) production (DMS or Dense Media Separation and crushing circuit) plant to be completed by September 2005 and to be commissioned on site during Q1 2006

• Petra advises it plans to accelerate expenditure and development of the project so as to bring production on line as early as possible

Exploration developments
Petra personnel visited the Kono site in April 2005 to plan for the establishment of the 75 tph production plant as well as to undertake further geological work on the dykes. Dykes were opened up to depths of 10 metres and samples taken. A 200kg sample of kimberlitic material taken from the Lion 5 dyke returned a gem quality 0.22 carat diamond. Petra’s site visit confirmed that the strike length of the Lion dykes exceeds the current total strike length of Petra’s South African kimberlite dyke operations

Petra has advised it believes the Kono project has the potential to yield high grades of approximately 100 cpht, as indicated by the original Mano mini bulk sample of Lion 5 which returned an average grade of 94 cpht, and results from the 200kg sample referred to above.

Site establishment
The necessary equipment to establish initial facilities on site will be shipped from South Africa and is on track to be commissioned on site by Q4 2005. Petra’s site establishment team will transfer to Sierra Leone in August and the site facilities should be fully established by November.

Exploration/Production plans
Petra is currently manufacturing the 75 tph production plant (DMS and crushing circuit) at its facility in South Africa. Petra plans to ship the production plant in October and it should be commissioned on site in Q1 2006.

Several exploration shafts will be established. Whilst the primary purpose of these is for exploration of the dykes, diamonds will be produced for quality and price evaluation. These shafts and facilities have been designed to facilitate a seamless transition to full-scale mining at a later stage. The production plant facility will be positioned centrally between the Lion dykes in order to reduce ore transportation costs from the exploration/mining sites.

Financial
Under the terms of the Joint Venture, by spending a total of US$3 million over the next 3 years, Petra will acquire a 51% equity interest in the Kono Project. Petra plans to accelerate expenditure and development of the project in order to bring production on line and earn its 51% interest well within the 3-year time period. All costs expended to date are in line with expectations.

Future developments
The next nine months will focus on;
• commissioning of the plant and associated infrastructure on site
• establishment and sinking of the exploration shafts
• extraction of bulk samples and limited diamond production

Adonis Pouroulis, Petra’s Chairman, comments, “We are pleased to announce that the commissioning of the plant and associated exploration activities are on track and we expect early stage production to begin in the first quarter of next year. The working relationships with our JV partner Mano and the Sierra Leone government and authorities are excellent and we look forward to working with all parties to expedite production from the Kono project.”

Guy Pas, Mano’s Chairman, adds, “This would be the first time ever in Sierra Leone’s history that kimberlite dykes will be commercially mined and we are confident that Petra, as a world leading dyke miner, will turn them into a long term sustainable contribution to this country’s recovering economy. While conflict diamonds reduced official Sierra Leone annual diamond exports to a mere US$10 million just 5 years ago, today, with much credit to the Kimberley Process, official exports saw a record June 2005 of US$22 million, for a 1st half total of US$76 million. Moreover, the right export channels contributed to an average price per carat for the 1st half of 2005 of just under US$280 per carat, which demonstrates the exceptional quality of Sierra Leone’s diamonds.”

About Mano
Mano is a well-funded exploration company focused on the discovery of diamond, gold and iron ore deposits in the Archaean terrain of the highly prospective, under-explored, West African Mano River Union (MRU) countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Mano considers the region has the potential to develop into a world-class diamond, gold and iron ore mining province. The Company has over 25,000km2 under licence, close to one million ounces of gold in resource, a cluster of diamondiferous kimberlite pipes and the Kono dykes, and joint ventures in place with Petra Diamonds, Trans Hex Group, BHP Billiton, Golden Star and Navasota and which, if they are all fully exercised, will involve a total of over US$16m in third party expenditure. With increasing market recognition of the recent positive evolution in the regional politics, Mano is starting to capitalise on its position as the pre-eminent gold and diamond explorer in the sub-region.

On behalf of the Board of Mano River Resources Inc.
Tom Elder
President and CEO

For further information on Mano River Resources and its exploration programme, you are invited to visit the Company’s website at www.manoriver.com or contact one of the following:

Tom Elder
President and CEO
UK +44 (0) 1235 810 740

Raz Hussein
Controller
Canada +1 (604) 689 1700

Gary Middleton
St. Swithins PR Ltd
UK +44 (0)20 7929 4391

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not take responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release